Another Name Whispered
by The Sagely Unknown Earl
Summary: The exorcists are in Paris searching for the most recent innocence. So far, Allen, Kanda, Lavi, Miranda, and Lenalee's investigation has lasted two weeks. Though no one expects it, not even Miranda could foresee her love for a certain redhead...
1. Prologue

_**Another Name Whispered**_

Chapter 1

_The feeling of Lavi's satin lips against the bare flesh of her skin was intoxicating; a shot of adrenaline provoked through her body. His slim fingers, gentle to the touch, grazed through her ebony hair, each silky strand shimmering with the reflective shine of the scarce and dim light. A hot breath from between his promising lips escaped to her ear as she felt him press his bare, muscular body against her slim frame. "Miranda…"he whispered in his angelic, velvety voice…_ "Miranda!" Came a voice again, but this time a very different one. "Get up!" sounded the growingly agitated voice from the other side of the wooden door. The shrill urgency had thrown Miranda out of a pleasurable, but strange sleep. Her milky white hand crawled from beneath the warmth of the covers and probed the back of her neck. There, she had found the cool sweat that had made the bed linens cling to her pasty skin. Once fully awake, a much fatigued Miranda sat up in bed. The blanket folded over, submitting to gravity as her drowsy onyx hues fixated out the thick glass panels of the window on the opposite wall. With a poignant sigh, her slim fingers fitted themselves around the corner of the microfiber comforter and dragged it off of her lanky body. With a swing, her legs draped over the bedside, and her palms rested securely on the bed linens as her eyes focused on the bedside table. It was littered with her time disk, an outdated newspaper, a bedside clock, her keys, and all kinds of crap that she didn't bother to put away. Running her fingers through her silky slate hair, the young woman got up and walked over to her bedroom window to look over the street below. It was seven in the morning and Paris was busier than ever. Her white silk tank top and shorts accented her long legs and smooth skin. Though she was 5'9"* her legs were still long for her body proportions. Miranda padded delicately over to the bedroom mirror, catching a quick glimpse of herself, and then proceeded to the dresser where she removed her clean uniform for the day's wear.

Outfitted in her sleek, glossy Exorcists uniform, Miranda Lotto caught another glimpse of herself in the mirror. She didn't look that terrible today, and in fact, her inky tresses that so delicately wove curls around the edge of her face looked especially lustrous today and her face looked like a little stress had been relieved along with an added refreshing touch. The confident booster lifted a lot of her chronic depression and put a small, but alluring and radiant smile on her face that touched her livid eyes. Side-stepping the mirror, Miranda proceeded to glide out the door without another thought clouding her mind. Descending down the creaking wooden staircase, presumably hundreds of years old, she swooped down with a gleeful step to the kitchen of the Parisian inn.

* * *

The tapping noise made by the young German exorcist drumming her fingers on the counter top was a sign that she obviously wasn't too patient this morning to wait for her tea to come to a boil. The other exorcists sat about a meter and a half from her, nestled in their chairs at a small round table, thoroughly enjoying their breakfasts. Allen, of course, had poor Cécile, the innkeeper, cooking her fair share of a grocery store to keep up with his metabolism. One person, in particular, was missing. And this person had come to her attention under the circumstances of the dream that she had that she was not able to stop thinking about. In the middle of her train of though, he entered, moving smoothly through the crowd with a blissful smile poised on his lips. For a moment, he glanced at Miranda, who in turn gave him a coy smile as her cheeks flushed a soft cerise. Smiling back, Lavi regarded her for another moment, and she could see that behind his beryl eyes he seemed to be pondering something. This moment was short lived, however, as his attention became diverted to Lenalee, his eyes following over to her. Miranda had thought that maybe he was thinking about how nice she looked today, but all confidence she had had became demolished as she saw the way he stared at Lenalee… Who was she kidding? She couldn't compare with Lenalee and her short little dress that made her look like a beautiful Asian doll. With a downward glance, Miranda seemed to dive back down into her internal depression, but it lifted a bit as she raised her eyes to watch Lavi eating and laughing with the others. Finally, the tea kettle whistled and she took it quickly off the stove, but only was able to move it a little ways because her fingers suddenly felt an arising discomfort, which registered as pain. With a sudden gasp, she let the kettle drop onto the counter. It was only a little ways, so the kettle plopped down right-side-up, a little water splashing from the spout. With a horrified expression, Miranda looked at her reddening fingers.... Maybe she'd had the heat too far up in her impatience and was otherwise distracted with Lavi, for this had never happened before. She went to rinse her fingers off under the cool running water in the sink, and with it, washed away her glum thoughts. It felt good....

* * *

Her boots skidded across the cold hard-wood floor, leaving a hollow sound behind her. Her burned hand gingerly held a cup of mango tea as she went back into the bedroom to get ready to leave. She left the cup on her dresser top as she walked over to the bedside table. She caught another quick glimpse out the windows. Miranda did a double take. The run-down apartment across the street had taken on a new resident... Or at least as much as she could tell. The exorcists had been on this mission in Paris for two weeks now, and were staying in a decent part of town, not run down or dirty, but the ragged apartment across the street had always been to her distaste, for it seemed a creepy place to be. There was a flash of movement behind the dirty window, followed by something that splattered onto the glass from the inside. She cringed. A little while later, a good looking man emerged, a cigarette poised between his lips that was filtering cloudy smoke into the air. She thought he might be another homeless man: trouble... But this man seemed to carry another aura about him. She'd never seen him before. Walking over she opened one of the windows with its wavy handle. A gust of prickling bitter breeze greeted her. She gasped a bit, before leaning out and looking down at him, wondering what had just taken place in that building…

* * *

Hey! This is my first Fanfic, so please!!! Review and tell me what you think! I would love some constructive criticism to help me improve my stories  So, go for it!!!

* I also had to guesstimate at Miranda's height, because I couldn't make a positive identification, so yeah… 


	2. Chapter 1

_**Another Name Whispered**_

Chapter 1

Breakfast continued downstairs with a swift progression, nobody seeming to notice Miranda's absence. Allen and Kanda were arguing (again) over which part of town they would head to next as Lenalee and Lavi discussed the likeliness of a level two akuma surviving a fall off of a hundred-foot cliff. Lavi leaned across the table a bit further as he jabbered away, hoping that this action would emphasize his point as he reached over and stole some food off of Allen's plate from the giant masses it contained (Allen being too busy arguing to notice). The exorcists continued on with their discussions, to busy to notice the door beyond the kitchen creak silently open…

Miranda leaned farther out the window to get a better look. Having to strain her eyes to see, Miranda squinted slightly. But as she looked again, he was gone. The bewilderment on her face was not to be mistaken as she carefully searched around, wondering if she had missed something. Ah, perhaps she was going pleasantly mad!!! No... she had gone made before in the past and this was not madness…The young woman's apprehensive face betrayed no emotion, (at least she thought, however her face still bore the apprehensive look), but as she stood there, firmly grasping the metal casing of the window, she couldn't help but wonder how all this had happened so fast. In an attempt to get a better view of the street she had seen him on, she stretched out on her tiptoes hoping that through this strain she would get a better look. Through this attempt she felt herself suddenly falling forward. With a gasp, she flailed her arms around in the air, hoping ever-so-dearly that she would regain her balance. She most-likely looked like a penguin trying to fly to any of the onlookers; the way her arms flapped through the air in a wild fury. That is… if anyone below had actually cared to look on... However much she tried she could not get a firm grasp to keep herself in. With a pained cry she fell forward, and oh, nothing could stop her now!!!

_Earlier_

_Road tapped her pencil on her notebook, fully consumed with boredom. With a poignant sigh she looked around the room, sitting cross-legged on the red, velvet outfitted chair. How was she possibly supposed to finish her homework when she was stuck on this stupid problem? With a groan she tossed her pencil across the room, watching it hit the opposite wall with a clunk. Still, she was not content. When the door squeaked open, Road jumped a little, not having expected anyone to interrupt her fit of boredom. Oh, but what a lovely and perfectly timed interruption it was! With an expectant expression, Road jumped up to stand on the chair and turned to look over its high-risen back. Beyond the tiled floor and coming through the door, was a fellow Noah. "Oh… It's only you guys..." Road commented with a tinge of disappointment as Jasdero and David walked towards her. She had hoped it to be Tyki, for she enjoyed his company more than that of the two circus clowns… Jasdero and David looked at each other as their eyebrows rose in surprise. "Only you guys…?" They said simultaneously before looking back to Road. "And what's that supposed to mean…?" asked David as he leaned around the chair, craning his neck to look at Road. Jasdero leaned around to the opposite side to look at the young girl. "Yeah…" he chimed in, his voice sounding a bit hurt, though all three of the Noah knew that it was only part of his act. With a sigh of slight annoyance, Road plopped back down into her chair and re-crossed her legs as she propped her elbow up on the table and rested her face in her open palm. "Nothing, nothing," she started. "I was just hoping it was Tyki or the Earl… At least then someone could help me with my damn homework…" Jasdero and David both leaned over the table to hover over the white sheet of paper in front of her. "What_ is_ this…?" Jasdero asked with a bewildered expression turning his head to look at David. "Beats me…" replied David, giving off the same idiotic expression. Looking now slightly amused, Road lifted a dark eyebrow over her golden hued eyes. "It's Math…" Eyeing one to the other, Road awaited their reaction. "Math…?" echoed the Noah of Bonds, looking at each other skeptically. "Well don't worry, Road..." concluded David with an ungodly smirk. Jasdero caught on with a grin of his own. "We'll help you with your math homework…" Lifting two guns to each other's head concurrently, they started to say something before Road stood up and slapped the guns from their heads. "Not now you idiots! God… Where is Tyki…!?" The two boys looked at one another, a little upset that they weren't able to bond. With a sigh, David answered. "The Earl sent Tyki out on a mission of sorts… And he himself is busy…" With an annoyed look, Road got up and strode for the door. She would find the Earl and bother him… That's what he gets for sending Tyki out when she needed him…_

Her eyes scrunched close as the adrenaline pulsed through her body, but right as she thought she would fall, there was a slight tugging pressure on her jacket as she was flung backwards. Miranda's expression remained frozen as she skidded across the floor and landed on her palms that supported her weight. Her face kept its petrified expression as she sat there, her inky eyes wide. Tilting her pale face up to look at the person who had saved her, she found herself flabbergasted* at who she found. With a calm, graceful turn, she got up and faced him, her smoky tamarind eyes seeming to peer into his soul. The breeze from the window feathered her raven locks against her colorless cheeks, giving her an endearing yet serious look. The stranger took another drag of his cigarette, looking at her through glasses that had a thick swirl spiraling from the center. "Why were you watching me… Exorcist…?" Miranda's jaw dropped slightly. How…? **How?!** How had he gotten up here…? Had he noticed her watching him? And even so, how was it possible that he had seen she was an exorcist… Unless… He had been watching her before she had even been watching him…? No… That couldn't be…

Before she had time to think, the door burst open and in came Allen, followed by Kanda, who had Mugen drawn, Lavi, possessing his hammer, and Lenalee who was otherwise just following behind them looking cute. The other that had pulled her in the window, just looked and smiled. "Well," he started. "If it isn't Allen Walker and his sidekicks of exorcists… I can honestly say that I wouldn't have expected you all here… But I suppose that after I saved your exorcist, what more could I expect? If there's one of you there're more of you…" Kanda scowled and looked like he was about to rush forward and slice the guy's head off of his shoulders. Allen put out a hand in warning. "Tyki… What is your business here…?" Tyki shrugged as if he wasn't sure, but as he removed his glasses and slicked his hair back with his hand, it became clear to all of them that he was here for a distinct purpose. "Searching for the Innocence… Same as you…" He said with a mad cat smile that looked devishly handsome on his face. All of the exorcists seemed to grimace, except Miranda who was just frowning deeply despite herself… She knew as she'd seen him on the sidewalk that he was trouble… She'd had good reasons to watch him the way she did. However, it was embarrassing and despicable to think that her hero had been a Noah… Oh, how dreadful. She wouldn't be alive without him. Then again, she wouldn't have had to lean out the window if he weren't there. For a moment, Miranda had thought that maybe it had been Lavi who had heroically pulled her back and saved her. It was the fantasy she was having once she realized she had stopped falling. Oh… How perfect would that have been…? _"Miranda…" Lavi said as he pulled her back into his arms. "Are you okay my angel…? That was close! I almost lost you!" She was about to say something before he put his index finger to her lips and quieted her with a soft "Hush…" And then his lips were on hers, communicating what words could not have said._ With a sigh, Miranda replayed her fantasy in her head over and over, sneaking a quick peek up at Lavi who looked very handsome as he stood at the ready to "protect" her from the Noah that was in her room. In the meantime, Miranda had drowned out all of the words in the conversation between Tyki and Allen. With a mental snap, she looked over to wonder what they were talking about. All she heard was "Innocence." _Of course_, she thought. _He's looking for the Innocence same as us… That's why he's here… And that's why he must've been in that apartment before…_

Before she could keep pondering she turned to realized that the Noah had already made his escape through the open window and was gone. Though there was a deep tension in the room, everyone seemed to have relaxed. "Miranda…"

Miranda turned her head to look at the person who'd said her name. "Are you alright….? What happened?" Lavi asked, resting his hammer on his shoulder as he looked at her, the other hand up and resting on the nape of his neck. "Oh…. Um…" stuttered the exorcist for a moment, trying to organize her thoughts. "We heard the thud and crash from downstairs and came up to check on you…" added Allen with a concerned gaze. "Yeah…" she started again. "Ugh… What a waste of time…" sneered Kanda who looked annoyed as ever. Lenalee swatted him over the head with the back of her hand. "Kanda! Well… At least we got some new information…" Lenalee inputted, seeming to already be forming a strategy in her head. "We know now that the Noah are already here… Looking for it…" The exorcists looked around at each other and nodded. "Yeah," agreed Allen, now looking at Lenalee as if he could put his thoughts in order best if he was looking at strictly one person. "But that was already granted. I mean, we've been here two weeks already and we still haven't found a thing…" It seemed to Miranda that everyone agreed. "So you're pretty much saying… We've been wasting our time for two whole weeks, giving the Noah a chance to catch up with us!" Kanda mocked. "And that wouldn't have happened if we'd gone to all the places **I'd**__suggested, ya beansprout!" He persisted, getting loud and aggressive again. Allen's face got red with anger as he looked as if he were about to argue back, but Lenalee intervened. "Boys!" The sound of her voice was that of impatience, as if scolding two little kids. "This isn't the time to fight about things. We need to split up. But now that the Noah are here it'd be best that we stick together in teams. Okay. Allen, Kanda and I will go search the south part of town, and Lavi and Miranda, you guys go check out the north. That way we have our power somewhat evenly distributed." The other exorcists nodded and then filed out of the room to go prepare themselves to leave. They left Miranda standing in the middle of the room, still mildly confused, and without being given the chance to tell or explain her story. She stood there looking a little discouraged, but before leaving, someone stopped at the door. "I'm glad you're okay, Miranda." Lavi said before giving her a smile accompanied with a wink, and leaving through the open door. Miranda's face flushed as he did, a small smile lingering on her lips. This was great. And the better end of it was that they were going to be in the same group for searching. Before, something like this would have been of mild interest to Miranda, but now… for some reason… It made her truly happy. She smiled again as she walked out the door behind them. In her room the cup of tea sat upon her dresser, cold, and forgotten…

*I really need to use that word. XD It's an amazing word indeed.

So yeah, here's my next chapter/update! I hope you guys like it! I tried to take some of the advice from the reviews of the prologue into consideration while doing this. So, I'm hoping I was not overly-descriptive again. ;}


	3. Chapter 2

_**Another Name Whispered**_

Chapter 2

The chilly breeze rustling her hair was far from unpleasant. It was relaxing; refreshing to say the least. After their encounter with the Noah, Miranda couldn't help feeling more useless than she ever had. Her story seemed irrelevant to the case, at least, that's how Yu and Allen made her feel, and what had she done to confront the ravenette besides having him save her? But it was always the same, wasn't it…? It was as if she could just hear the kids from Germany mocking her: "Blöde Miranda, hässliche Miranda, unglückliche Miranda, nutzlose Miranda!"*

* * *

The nausea suddenly reached her head, causing the exorcist to sway back on her heels in an ungraceful manner. Just remembering that former life gave her a terrible case of nostalgia, a slap on the head on top of the migraine she was already dealing with. Sucking in a gasp of fresh oxygen to circulate through her system, she flailed her hands out for support, one of them finding it on a worn lamppost. It seemed that her eyes suddenly bore a darker shadow underlining their shape, making her look dreadful, underslept, and just plain miserable. But there was no way that Miranda was stopping now! She had to prove herself, didn't she? Show off what she could do for once in her life! These were the building blocks of her confidence, giving herself such boosts, making her feel strong and determined! And especially now that she and Lavi were searching together, she would get to prove to him her strengths: _redeem_ herself for the embarrassing incident earlier. Yes, the plan was starting to form in her head. She could see it! And for the first time it seemed like a reachable goal. Not just something that she would (once again) fantasize about, because this fantasy was touchable!

"So, I bet you girls are as sweet as the pastries this country is rumored for, hmmm?" cooed the red head with his classic "charmers" wink. The two French filles* suppressed their giggles by smoothly lifting their fingers to their lips in a cute, flirty manner. A mental rock smashed onto Miranda's head as she watched Lavi flirt with the young Parisian ladies, his hammer resting flauntingly on his shoulder in a macho fashion, making it look like it was as light as a toothpick; a feather, resting ever-so-mildly across his shoulder. Her eyes turned to soulless black pits as she floated over, a ghostly shadow in the cloud-curtained sunlight, seeming to be moved by nothing but the draft itself.

"Lavi…"echoed Miranda in a soulless, empty voice that reminded the Bookman of an echo from a bottomless well.

"Excuse me, ladies!" said the fiery headed boy as he turned to face his comrade. It seemed that he had been so absorbed in his flirtatious attempts that Miranda and the mission had slipped his mind completely; water slipping in between the gutter of his thoughts.

"Oh, um, yes…!?" In his attempt to sound cheery and innocent as ever, Miranda had almost forgotten that she was about to remind him what they were _really_ supposed to be doing right now. Kanda, Allen, and Lenalee had made their way south almost half an hour ago, and here _they_ were, stationed outside the Inn like useless cattle.

"Ehm… Lavi, I am very sorry to interrupt you, but aren't we supposed to be headed north…? The others left a while ago…" said the female exorcist in her heavy German accent, making her best attempt to sound carefree and friendly. Lavi remained silent for a long moment as he looked at her. Miranda could feel herself becoming more and more nervous, her awkward smile poised on her lips as a small sweat bead ran down the side of her face. She remained that way for a long while, looking awkward and frozen, and she could feel the heat as the blood started going to her face. "_Warum guckt er mich so an!?"_* thought Miranda to herself as the beryl eyes of the Bookman never once left her face.

"Never mind, never mind, carry on, carry on!" Miranda said with a nervous laugh as she waved her hand in dismissal. Finally, Lavi took his eyes off her and turned back around to continue his efforts with the cute French ladies.

"So, ladies, where were—" began the coral-haired boy, finding only to be talking to nothing but the pole by which the two girls had been standing. A grunt of dismay found itself from between his lips as he stared at the dirty steal pole with dissatisfaction...

"Alright, Miranda… Let's go…"

"Yes, yes, okay!" responded the pale skinned woman seeming to be more livid now that they were back in business.

* * *

"I still don't get it… I _feel_ that there is something up here, but I can't locate it to confirm anything…" muttered Allen in an abashed tone as he skidded over the dirty stone floor that was layered with grime and dust.

"Well maybe you're just going mad!" suggested Kanda with a scoff, never having cared much for Allen's so-called "talents". Lenalee sighed. It was clear to her now that these boys would never change. But perhaps that was the way of the male mind: forever immature. It wasn't so much Allen causing the drama, though, more than Kanda's ill temper. However, they **all** knew that that was never going to change.

"I don't know, Allen," began the Chinese beauty with a bat of her eyelashes. "I'm not getting much from over here… Are you sure that this is the right place…?"

"I thought I was sure… But maybe you're right… It's just, something about this place just draws me in…" The old boat dock had long been abandoned by any tourists and the workers had off today. Boats floated inactively on the rising and falling waters of the Seine River as the exorcists' boots clanked and skidded along the docs. The gray overcast gave this place an overall gloomy appearance, but it wasn't anything that the three of them weren't used to.

"I wonder how Lavi and Miranda are doing up north…" wondered Allen out loud. Hopefully they were finding more than dustbunnies…

* * *

The streets were still pretty full up in the north side of the city. People were stopping by the bakeries and getting fresh croissants and baguettes for their families, butchers and shopkeepers were tending to their shops and tending to customers, and then there were a couple Japanese tourists admiring some traditional old French buildings. It made Miranda smile a delicate smile to see the carefree lifestyles of the people that don't have to worry about Earls, akuma, innocence, or any other evils that spread through the world like wild-fire.

"What are you smiling at…?" It was Lavi, sneaking a peak at her secretive smile that adorned her lips.

"Oh, it's nothing… Just the ignorance of the world around us…" answered Miranda in a muted voice. Lavi turned to look at the tourists and laughed. It seemed he too understood what she meant.

"So, where should we look first…?" inquired the male with a speculative glance in her direction.

"Well, as I've been surveilling the area, I would say that nothing looks out of the ordinary…" A thought soon clicked in her mind as she spoke this.

"Hey, Lavi… Have you, er… ever seen from the top of the Eiffel Tower…?" It seemed Lavi that he had to think about it for a moment.

"No… Not in any of my forty-nine 'lives'." he mused with a small chuckle which caught on to the German woman.

"We could look there…?" suggested Miranda with a shard of hope that she was holding fast to.

"Not a bad idea!" concluded the red-headed one as he gave her a cheery smile. "And by the way… Is that a new jacket…?" Miranda had to glance down at the attire she was outfitted in. It wasn't a new jacket, just the very same one she had been wearing for seven months now.

"No…"

"Oh… Hmm… It looks different somehow… Looks nice…" commented he while looking at the sleek black surface of the exorcist's attire. Miranda flushed red.

"Oh, thank you!" her voice cracked in the middle of that sentence, causing Lavi to burst out laughing. What more could she expect from herself. The blush flamed into her face again, her ears burning with embarrassment. It was no use trying to play it cool. No matter what she did, she would always be Miranda…

* * *

**Dictionary! :3**

* "Blöde Miranda, hässliche Miranda, unglückliche Miranda, nutzlose Miranda!" – "Stupid Miranda, ugly Miranda, unhappy Miranda, useless Miranda!"

* filles – French word meaning girls

* "Warum guckt er mich so an!?" – "Why is he looking at me like that!?"

Note: Hey everyone! Here's my latest chapter of _Another Name Whispered_!! Sorry it took me so long to update! n_n; I've been very busy with schoolwork… -_- However, here's my latest chapter! Oh, and by the way, I'm not sure why but isn't letting me update my previous chapters, so I can't remove the spelling mistakes and I can't separate the paragraphs in Chapter one like I wanted to… *sighs* oh well… Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I do not own or claim to own any of the characters/ original storyline. This fantabulous series belongs to Katsura Hoshino! ~ Thanks**


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